January 19, 2012
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Comparison website Kelkoo says that eCommerce sales grew 14 percent to almsot £50 billion in the United Kingdom in 2011.
British online shoppers spent about £1,400 last year and Kelkoo is predicting that's going to rise again in 2012. Kelkoo
is also forecasting that the U.K. will satisfy its shopping urges online to the tune of about £56.5 billion this year, with
each online shopper spending an average of about £1,450 on 43 items.
"It’s perfectly natural to see consumer's appetite for online shopping growing year on year," says Richard Stables, CEO
at Kelkoo.
"This isn't because people in the U.K. are spending more money but that simply they are shopping in the most convenient
and affordable way for their individual needs," added Stables.
He added that the trend is similar throughout Europe-- online sales across the continent rose about 18 percent to €200.52
billion last year, and the growth is expected to reach approximately €232.76 billion this year.
"Of course, this could potentially have some ongoing negative impact in traditional brick and mortar stores, an issue
which is forcing retailers to bring the two channels much closer together," he added.
But Kelkoo's mostly optimistic predictions today are borne out by the most recent quarterly report from eBay. The online
giant announced positive numbers for the last three months of 2011, when its net income rose to $1.98 billion from $559 million
in the final quarter of 2010.
Admittedly, some of that cash came from the sale of eBay's remaining stake in Skype, but leaving aside some of those gains
and items such as stock-based compensation expenses, income still rose 41 percent to $789 million, nevertheless.
Even though eBay is doing well, it's staying calm on its future forecasts as it can't expect to emerge totally unscathed
from the second dip in the economic downturn and the growing Euro crisis that is overhanging everyone's heads these days.
It's expecting revenue of $3.05 billion to $3.15 billion in the three months ending in March, and full year revenue in
2012 of $13.7 billion to $14 billion, compared to full year reported revenue of just $11.65 billion last year.
But while all of this is happening, things are looking gloomier than ever over at Comet, the high-tech retailer owned by
French firm Kesa Electrical. The Christmas period wasn't good to the U.K. chain, with same-store sales dropping 14.5 percent.
Kesa has already agreed to offload the loss-making outfit to a private equity firm but the new numbers have increased
its debts over the agreed threshold by £10 million to £15 million, costs that Kesa will have to bear.
Apart from the tech industry, other U.K. retailers have also reported feeling some pain over the holiday season, with
Tescos, Homebase, Mothercare and Argos all announcing lower sales when compared to the same period in 2010.
Source: Kelcoo.
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